AlexK writes:
It surely cannot pass without comment that this seasons cup runs have ended in the minutes between 80 to 90.
FA Cup: vs Blackburn, Benni scores in the 80- something minute to send gunners crashing out after dominating possession for long spells.
Carling Cup: vs Chelsea, Drogba scores in the 80-something minute to send gunners crashing out after creating enough chances to win and matching it with chelsea.
Champions League: vs PSV, both legs concede late goals after rarely being otherwise threatened.
Add to that, late goals conceded against bolton in fa cup and tottenham in carling cup.
It is just not good enough.
What is the solution?
Maybe a leader in defence and some defensive coaching of set pieces.
And maybe we could start looking a little more dangerous from corners/set pieces as well.
Would be interested to hear your thoughts.
PS, thought that toure looked good at right back. Maybe bring in an experienced centre back and push toure out to the right where he can get forward more.
naresh sevani points out:
“One ANR reader points out that Arsenal have been dumped out of the three cups with goals in the last ten minutes”
I hope Alex Ferguson doesn’t remind us about Wenger’s/Flamini’s comments on Man Utd conceding late cos of tiredness
Brendan Leary writes
Thought you might appreciate an outsider’s views on your team.
Basic point: there necessarily must be at least two very different Arsenals, although Arsene wants to pretend that one is sufficient.
The two Arsenals you clearly need are:
a) the one for playing teams that are clearly inferior in terms of talent; and
b) the one for playing teams of equivalent or greater standing, or for finishing off inferior teams once you hold the lead against them.
There are two or more Chelseas, Liverpools and Uniteds. It is folly to think Arsenal can get away without the same.
Problem is, Arsene only acknowledges and cares for developing team b), the pacy, counterattacking, svelte viper that typically lines up in a compact 4-5-1/4-3-3, and then can lethally strike against Chelsea, Man U, Liverpool, Juve, Barca, Real – pretty much anyone you care to mention.
Team b) is pretty much Wenger’s vision of good football.
Problem is, team b) is most efficient when an opponent offers space to run into.
The big teams I have mentioned above will offer you at least a little of space, because they will always fancy themselves to score against you.
Clearly, inferior teams will offer that space to you too, but only after you earn it off them by scoring the opening goal of the game against them.
If you do earn that space against lesser teams, you will likely score 3, 4, 5 goals.
Problem is, team b) is not well equipped to score that opening goal against weaker teams.
You need to develop a team a) for that purpose, then make tactical changes to switch to team b) to finish them.
Wenger made a minor concession to team a) a year ago by purchasing Adebayor. That isn’t nearly enough. You probably need to change formations too, perhaps to something similar to the 3-4-3 that Benitez uses against weaker opponents. And you need to develop a goal threat coming from the centre of midfield.
It was easy to anticipate PSV’s style of play, just as it is easy to anticipate Blackburn, Bolton, Everton and the rest.
It was equally easy to see that it was unlikely that Farfan would trouble Gallas and Toure and that three at the back should have been sufficient.
With that in mind, for mine it should have been 3 at the back (Gallas, Djourou, Toure) a diamond midfield (Gilberto at the base, Fabregas left, Diaby right, Baptista apex) and three upfront (ideally Henry left to play with Fabregas, otherwise Freddie, Adebayor centre, Walcott right).
At least that would have guaranteed that you stretched them out of shape.
The big question for me is: how do you develop team a) while trying to accommodate each of Hleb, Fabregas, Denilson and Rosicky in midfield?
They can all fit nicely into team b), but you can really accommodate no more than two of that four into team a). And team a) is the side that should start most premiership fixtures.
aran says:
Ian, nice write up.
Myles,
I also thought the game was rubbish.
Arsenal are not an atacking team anymore. They are a possession team. I honestly do think that adebayor can be a good player, but i don’t know about his attitude.
Cliche and toure were the best players on the night. Gallas needs to find confidence in the team. I think he is actually too gooder player to be in this team. The weakness’s are Fabregas he may make the play for Arsenal.. well some1 has to. Baptista, cannot bind one bit with any player on the pitch. He’ll start something he can’t finish. GILBERTO is AWFUL sack him. Djourou and gallas would be excellent in the centre with toure on the right, that going by T5s performance last night.
We seriously miss Reyes and anyone that says we don’t is lying to themselves, or is unable to see the finer side of his game. OK towards the end of least year he was falling over a lot, he was being fouled alot, he lost his confidence. He helped arsenal and thierry achieve a lot in his time. He would be direct, we would be quick with his passes and sharp. He pinged the ball to a player and force the player to move forward. He scared defenders, like toure last night, thats why he was fouled so often. He has made more of an impression than baptista, he has made more of an effort than Rosicky. He scored just as many goals in the equivilant time. He’s gone because he was an individual. An individual that clashed with the biggest individual Henry. It happens at every club.. i’m sure it happens with Bellamy and Kuyt, Ronaldo and Rooney.. likewise Shevchenko and Drogba, but when it does you need the Manager to help you. To help the cause, he didn’t show confidence in Reyes. Why did he leave him out the Champions League final. Against Real Madrid, a game that you know Reyes would of rised for. You know when Reyes is up for a game. . you can see his real pace, his touch his aggression.
Jose Antonio Reyes is still an arsenal player. He is a game breaker, but no matter how much i’d like him to be at arsenal next year, he won’t be.
He may not of made the difference yesterday but my point is, we don’t know how to attack anymore. Its like the guys are amateurs at times. who cares if you can hold on to the ball for twice as long as the other team. Can you test the keeper is the question.
kassahun says
Arsenal are very predictable who can’t defend and can’t score. Average teams like boro, villa, blackburn, psv… came with a plan to defend and get a draw and arsenal are inept to break them down. That was the story week in week out. The bad thing about Arsenal is that, Wenger believe that his side is world best and he do not plan to buy accomplished strikers and midfilders who can withstand dirty part of the game and score some crucial goals. With Adebayor, Aliadiare, Baptista… wenger will never win big matches. Two seasons without trophy and I can’t see anything positive for the next season too. Wenger wake up!!!!!!!!!
Nicholas Nicoli writes:
I know I’ve already sort of mentioned it but Ill say it again. Im in the school of thought that has had enough. Me and my 16 year old nephew are also ‘out for the season’. We have vowed not to watch any more Arsenal this year. And we wont, as childish as this sounds, I dont think it is…
Haroon Rauf asks:
What do you make of the Henry “injury.” After the PSV game he walked off illustrating that his injury can not be all that severe. But to be ruled out for the REMAINING SEASON (11 games = 2months min.) and be “confident that he will be ready for the start of next season” says its alot more serious than it looks. Besides, how to you injure your stomache muscles anyway?? whats your sources saying Myles/Ian..is there more to the story than they are letting out because it certainly doesnt make any “real” sense.
Ben Ford opines:
Not to say I don’t agree with your recent article Myles but when have Toure and Gallas formed a partnership. Have they even once both played centre-back together?
Lauris writes:
Hi, Myles
You said that Arsenal need to buy 3 players: goalkeeper, centre back, and a striker.
Well, I have to disagree.
Goalkeeper is a must only if Jens leaves, so it is not exactly an acquisition – it is a replacement (meaning – we are not losing because we have a bad keeper).
Centre back? We have 2 centrebacks of very good quality – Toure and Gallas, and a very good substitute in Djorou. And we even have a good 4th pick, which unfortunately Arsene rates a bit too high – Senderos. So no, in that area we are covered well enough.
Striker? Maybe. I would agree 100% in case Henry is sold, or never plays again like we now he could. A team cannot play with Adebayor and van Persie upfront. In case Henry stays and plays well – then the striker could be a good addition, but not a must.
So where should we strengthen? On the wings! You yourself said that we play too narrow. Well, Arsene plays a team with 4 inner midfielders, so that should not come as a surprise. In this case I think that Eboue – Hleb is a good enough partnership, so we can have one inner on the wing, which means – we need to get a left winger. No, not Walcott. I do not know the market at the moment, but the one name I remember is Ribery.
joseph says:
I want you to feel my pain… firstly let me introduce myself… my names Liatt and I’m an Arsenal fan. Many fellow gooners have labelled me pessimistic, some have even said I don’t know what I’m talking about, but I’ve decided that I’m going to use these notes to tell you exactly what I think about the club I love and if you don’t like it…
There are many problems the first one is simple Arsene Wenger. Many of you may be raising your eyebrows at this… but yes I’ve said it Mr Wenger to put it simply isn’t good enough to manage the club I love…. more importantly he doesn’t know what it means to manage the club I love.
Firstly we only have one style of football, and as brilliant as it is… we have no plan b… our skirt has been lifted on many occasions… and lex steel has buried his piece into our gaping hole. By lex steel I mean Bolton, Blackburn, PSV, and Co. We go away to these teams dominate proceedings and lose, why?
ARSENE WENGER
He continues to bring players in who would rather pass than shoot… who gain more satisfaction from creating a goal than scoring one. Even Tomas Rosicky looks scared to do so… does he ever in a czech shirt! Ever since Anelka left we needed another NATURAL GOALSCORER… apparently henry is that.. lol… he never has fooled me.
Wenger not buying this natural goalscorer has cost us dearly. Many trophies should have been lifted. Yes Wenger is responsible for this breathtaking football we play yes he has laid the foundations of a potentially limitless team… but our bark has unfortunately become a lot harder than our bite and he is too blame.
After ten years… our team style of football has progressed… but we STILL aren’t winning trophies…we are STILL a working progress… that simply my fellow gooners isn’t good enough.
I demand Sami E’too in the summer I don’t care how much he costs he would be the difference between us winning everything and nothing… like these last two painful years. Senderos is really bad, Freddie still gets a game, adebayor will not score 20 goals a season…. does arsene not see what every other gooner does.
James says:
It’s all very well to say Wenger should have done this or that in hindsight – Gilberto has scored 9 goals this season, but half of those have been penalties – so he’s not really likely to be Arsenal’s goalscoring saviour.
After watching Senderos recent performances Wenger would have got slaughtered for putting that buffoon at the back – moving Gilberto was a sensible decision seeing as he had played remarkably well there in previous games and PSV were not expected to do much attacking – and didn’t. Toure being switched to right back gave us an extra attacking option that Djourou wouldn’t have – so it made some sense. I think Djourou’s match fitness is also in question.
At the end of the day, the game was lost on the training pitch – again – set piece defending. That’s the real reason. Tactically, Wenger is so clueless he doesn’t even bother to tell players not to give away stupid free kicks around the box – incredibly lazy management. If he did, then why would Hleb do the same thing 3 or 4 times in every single game? He should be put on suicide watch.
So, yeah, it’s not so much down to personnel rather than set pieces, although the strikers are also a problem, Adebayor and Baptista’s first touch is so bad that Arsenal’s fast fluid football breaks down every time it reaches them.
Baptista is having a Drogba-like first season and could still come good. What I like about him is that he doesn’t hide like Aliadiere. He is also playing under enormous pressure, with a gun at his head almost, fail and he’s going back to another club that doesn’t want him. He has to cope with more than most in their first season, we need to cut him some slack, it’s only been the two best keepers around who have stopped him scoring some long-range screamers recently to add to his 8 goals.
So, Wenger has to sort out set pieces – and yes of course injuries are a problem – come on, no Van Persie, Henry or Rosicky? They’re Arsenal’s Rooney, Ronaldo and Giggs – you have to cut Wenger some slack for not being able to field them. Henry did play like a pensioner when he came on, but he also created more in 5 minutes than Adebayor and Baptista did in the whole match – one flash of genius could have won it, like a free kick etc., so I don’t blame Wenger for bringing him on – there was no other option.
John Poorta says:
The thing is Wenger has a vision. He believes in Utopian Football. But I think that what we’ve seen happen to us this season suggests that perhaps to succeed while playing Utopian Football you need Utopian footballers; players who are perfect in every way, in every position, playing perfectly throughout the season. For example, Alex is a perfect centre back.
Senderos isn’t. Ian Wright was a perfect striker. Adebayour isn’t. If you don’t have or can’t afford perfect footballers you need to play a team strategy that compensates for weaker players. This is what most teams have to do; your Bolton’s and your Blackburns.
So either Wenger gets smarter about recognising that his current calibre of players need a more cautious style (a bit like PSV – organised but actually dangerous on the break) or he needs to go and get better players much as you suggest – a real goalscorer, a goalscoring mid, and a central defender. Having seen us touch many moments of Utopian football this season I hope Wenger and the club will go for it and live the dream but it means investment. If they can’t invest enough to pull this off, they need to get realistic.
Key to the realistic option however in my mind is to replace Cesc with a ball winning hard tackling but good passing midfielder to play alongside Giberto. It would be sadly ironic if to achieve his Utopian dream Wenger needed Abramovich’s money and to achieve effective dominance Arsenal needed Mourinho’s pragmatism.
Stan says:
I am of the second school as you call it. bwtf, the goalie end centrebacks are not the problem, unless Lehmann does not stay offcourse, like you say we need a cutting edge, new striker yes, but also a replacement for Hleb,
Also, Gilberto is average, this year he has been average and overrated.
Would not mind a right back either, Eboue is a great talent, but can`t be trusted.
peter hogg writes:
I think everyone agrees with the type of new players needed, goal, stopper and stiker, but also someone to replace and score the pires goals.
But do we also need a specific defensive coach? We are natural going forward, but as a team defending we are anything but natural. Can we not now replace Pat rice with tony adams as official assistant manager, to teach, bully and force the team as a body, to all develop proper defensive skills?
Tony says:
As you know I’m in the something must be done camp. Not because we haven’t won; I’ve followed Arsenal for too long to expect continued success, but beacause with thw players we have we should have more success.
Interestingly that stuttering little cameo on Wednesday may be the last apperence by Henry in an Arsenal shirt. Who would really miss him now. But whilst Wenger is in charge of selection and tactics very little will change. It is not just new players Wenger should take the step that he must eventully take and relinquish day to day control and become diector of football. You highlight his comments on Henry. Surely more strange was his backing of dear old Freddie. Is Wenger the only one who cannot see an embarrassment of a former very good player.Is it to be Cygan all over again. With any luck it is talking him up prior to sale.
Joseph Abba:
Being an avid reader of your blog , I thought it best to write in after the Carling Cup Final – of which I was really annoyed about. I decided to cool off though. I will detail my observations below, but not before I state that I was even more annoyed after watching the Champions League exit. I have no doubt that Arsene is a quality manager, but like all of us in life if you refuse to improve on the assets you have at your disposal (especially when these are clear to almost everyone), and if you refuse to learn from your mistakes and shortcomings, you have only yourself to blame when things go awry. The problems which led to Arsenal’s exit have been evident from the first game of the season – in which we drew with Aston Villa. For these same problems to be evident about six months later reeks of a stubborn refusal to acknowledge them and work to rectify them.
Now for the shortcomings (just noticed that I left my notes at home so I shall go on memory and hope it serves me well):
1) Playing beautiful football is good but a team has to acknowledge that in the final third of the pitch possession must count, with goals. Not with dribbling around in the 18 yard box seeking the killer pass (ala Hleb!)when you might be better served by trying to catch the goalkeeper off guard. And I am also referring to taking your chances when they come. Do or do they not practice this as a team? Or is there the belief that “another chance will come if we miss this one?”
2) The very weapons that have resulted in our lossess should be studied more in depth by Arsene and his team: corner kicks, free-kicks, throw-ins. We do not know how to use these weapons to our advantage, nor how to defend them. (By the way I agree with your cousin – I was surprised to read that the team practiced these before the Champions Laegue exit!)
3) Lack of Concentration: I don’t know if this is due to our style of football but you don’t win games without keeping your focus from the first whistle till the final whistle – which is NEVER 90 minutes!!! We often take 25 minutes to get into a game (at the start of the season we often conceded then) and at the end of games we sort of drift off and then BANG, we concede! I have to say that one thing about Chelsea which I admire is that their players stay focused for the whole game. Is this due to our romantic football? And would we lose a lot from our style of play if we were more serious?
I am trying not to go off on a rant. But I think issues must seriously be addressed. No doubt fatigue had a say after all those games coming thick and fast but if we took our chances such would not have been the need – all those replays etc. We still play lovely football, but there must be an end result. And ALWAYS this comes from being strong enough mentally to enforce your own game on your opponent and dictate the game, or not conceding under pressure and capitalizing on THEIR own errors.
I do hope I make a bit of sense. And I eagerly await the next game (against Aston Villa – where the problems came to notice at the start of this season) to see if they will start to put things right.
colinjo32
Well we lost the match but that is not the end of arsenal. I appreciate your view but please don’t under-rate V, Persie. That guy is going to change our season and Rosinsky too. Maybe Henry and Fabrigas can give way to new players since Henry is no longer fruitful and Fabby seems to have home sick.
We shall have a better season next year, I have no doubt
Andy Mack says:
The thing that’s disappointed me most from a scoring point of view is the midfield. The team is set up for the midfielders to run through tight defenses using a 1-2 with the strikers (or other midfielders) and they’ve done it time and again only to miss the goal. I guess they’ll all strike form at the same time and we’ll get a 10-nil win against top opposition but it doesn’t help the overall picture of the season.
I’d be interested to know howmany times our midfielders have hit the post (or shot within a couple of feet of the goal)this year. I suspect it’s a multiple of years gone by….
Thanks for anr, It’s always the first one I check.
Cheers
Andy
gillomkandawire writes:
Looking upon the way forward for the team it looks we are lacking a very experienced players for positions of goalkeeper, strike who can manage to score goals every game, and looking for henry He is still fit to be part of arsenal next season, this time he has had a bad season, keep him he will help us next season, but we need to players like Eto,o next season, you should not feature in young players we also need aged players like what chelsea are doing. lets fodge ahead and plan for next and not blame anyone for the exit of arsenal.
Jeff Morrison –
Re. the two camps, I don’t think they have to be mutually exclusive. I think Arsenal have a great foundation for the future and am excited about it. This WAS a transition year. But I also think we do need two to three spinal players to complete the project.
On the formation at the back, your point is well-taken about messing with partnerships in this particular game. However, if Diaby is to be used to his best ability next year, he should be in Gilberto’s place in midfield. And if you start Gilberto and Gallas in central defense from the beginning of next season with Toure out right, it’s making the most of our talents. Toure is always looking to attack and is a natural right back, arguably our best weapon offensively against PSV. With he and Clichy acting as wingbacks and Diaby helping to anchor the middle, it allows Rosicky and Hleb to drift inside where they seem to want to go anyway.
Whatever happens next year, Arsenal need to learn to score early and often again. More easy games that are over in the first half before they get exhausted/injured like we had in the 2204 season. How many times were they 2-0 up in 20 minutes and then just coasted to victory that year? Of course that involves conceding less as well. If we get a solid keeper to eventually replace Jens and a direct, in the box striker, the rest of the team is there for years to come.
William Murray:
There’s a lot I disagree with in your ‘What Arsenal need to become a team’ article.
Firstly, I disagree with you over the points you made over Djourou, Toure and Gilberto. Wenger used Bertie in defence because of his aerial prowess, it’s definitely something he has over Gallas and Toure.
On the right, Toure’s marauding runs gave us width and an attacking outlet that Djourou wouldn’t have provided. Djourou is far more defensive a RB than Toure. Perhaps a defence of Toure, Djourou, Gallas and Clichy with Bertie returning to midfield would have been the answer.
Nevertheless, Djourou is very inexperienced so maybe, for a change, Wenger went with experience over youth, which is something some Arsenal fans have been saying he should do more often. It seems he can’t win.
Secondly, I think a midfield of Diaby and Fabregas is too offensive minded. We only needed to score two goals to go through and the patient approach worked, at first. I feel we lost the game because we lost our shape a little and pushed too hard for the winner, allowing PSV to get forward a bit more.
Thirdly, Wenger HAD to risk Henry. He is a clinical striker and he’s not afraid to shoot and those qualities sets him apart from the rest of our team on the night!!! If the chances that fell to Ade and Cesc had fallen to Henry instead, we’d be looking forward to today’s last 8 draw.
Fourthly, we don’t need a striker. No one else (in the league) has a better front three than Henry, RvP and Adebayor. That’s not an opinion, that’s a fact. What we need is a goalscoring winger, we need another Pires. We need a player who can offer us width, who can get beyond the strikers and who can shoot from distance.
Fifthly, RvP has a huge amount of assists this season. From memory, he’s on 13 goals and 10 assists. In my book, a player with 10 assists at just over the halfway point of a season is more than capable of playing with others. RvP does have a selfish streak but it’s a welcome change to the ‘to-me-to-you’ buck-passing ways of Hleb, Fabregas et al.
I enjoy reading ANR so keep up the good work.
Regards,
Will.
Chris Cotton:
While I am as unqualified as most people to talk about the team, I have a few observations on the Emirates crowd.
It’s self evident that when one compares Anfield and The Emirates, Gooners come out looking pretty uncommitted.
Anfield’s atmosphere, though slightly contrived, somewhat over-hyped and excessively self-congratualtory (They do love themselves, really – I have to speak to them everyday) is patently much better than the Emirates. Why?
For one, the Anfield crowd is much more homogenous. For all their worldwide fan base, Anfield is full of Scousers – who share a much closer bond than I’ve ever seen at Arsenal – even in the 70s and 80s.
Liverpool FC are an expression of local pride – they are not what bind the community together – there already is a community and common bond. LFC are the top of the tree, not the base.
I don’t know what the sociological term is but the Anfield crowd share attitudes and ideals far more broadly than just the support for a football club.
I am sure LFC’s southern based fans who love the gritty realism and authenticity that LFC and Anfield generate – it’s a product of the way Scousers, and more broadly northerners, see themselves.
Contrast this with the Emirates crowd which is far, far more diverse. Many of whom are probably new to actually attending matches. There is little of the common bond besides support for AFC. The geographical and cultural diversity of the crowd is something to be applauded but at the same time does not lead to anything like a unified sense of purpose.
Add to all this, that Scousers on the whole, despite all the changes on Merseyside (and there are many), see themselves somewhat as victims.
And add that for new fans to the game in the last 15 years, football is something akin to attending cinema and theatre and less like a religious belief – so the 20 odd thousand new AFC fans see themselves as consumers and not as participants.
I could go on and on with this ramble but it really grates with me the comments I hear about the AFC crowd up here. But… there is so obviously a difference.
There’s no real answer but, as has been touched on – how about giant flags, some fireworks, colour cards on seats, inprove the transport infrastructure, buy a striker…..
Chris
DENMAN:
You say that vP can score goals but can’t play with others which I find quite baffling. Goalscorers take chances for themselves. You know, we can’t have it both ways as Arsenal fans; if you want goals banged in you have to have less eye -pleasing passing approach play. If you want someone to pull the trigger RvP is your man.
quartz
I agree but just as important is a new wide player.
Goallkeeper yes when Lehmann goes. Striker..of course. Centre back…maybe.
But we need to replace Ljungberg as much as any of those.
We need another pacy wideman who can play either side and gets goals. Hleb and Rosicky do not score enough and like to cut in, both are good but when injured there is no replacement for them. Ljungberg past it, Walcott still learnign and err..that’s it..unless you play Diaby wide left sometimes, fine, but his power means I would like to see him central midfield more often.
When Kerrea Gilbert is back we can then use him and Hoyte at right back and Eboue wide in midfield…so that’s better…and if we do buy Abidal then Traore can be used in midfield too.
But Ribery would be the best bet if we can afford him.
Clockend Vyv:
>>called my younger brother Paddy in Somerset. He said that on Wednesday morning two guys made the same remark to him at the swimming pool. They had read in the paper that Arsenal had been working on corners and set-pieces and both asked, “Don’t they do that all the time?”<<
I clearly remember Don Howe, during the awful early/mid-eighties and following yet another dreadful peformance, saying that the team were “going to work on passing in training this week” !!! Professional footballers!
“Dr. Dumile Gugushe” writes:
The attitude of the supporters this year shows how much the club has changed in character from the move to Ashburton Grove.This is of great benefit to the winning mentality of the club,players,management and fans;so in that sense I agree with the outcry.However,there is a lack of perspective in some of what you say Wenger should have done.
Firstly Wenger is justified by what he has accomplished for the club over a period of ten years,to choose his starting eleven.He is also justified in the manner in which he managed the changes of this season:there bound to be unforeseen difficulties.
Your view of the first eleven is skewd by the worship of Fabregas.Fabregas is only of use in a 4-5-1:it doesn’t matter if you couple him with Gilberto against a good team,which PSV are.I thought he would have improved this season but clearly his weaknesses are a problem.Denilson had an exceptional CL debut;nothing wrong with his performance so I feel you are only carrying your bias into the argument at a convenient time to canvas your irrelavant views.
I agree that we need a striker and a goalkeeper as well as central defender,but what about a man on the wing?At Highbury’s narrow pitch the team got away with playing without a true wide player,but not at Ashburton:the success of this season was always going to be qualifying for next season’s CL so that we could fix the real problems in the transfer marketduring this summer window.
No quick fixes please;we need to buy well in the summer and continue to build the experience amongst the youth.Who will be the stars and the bit players remains to be seen,but Rosicky,Denilson,Diaby and now Merida can play in the middle.Because our style that will be a focal point for next season’s campaign and I can’t see Denilson and Diaby being as limited
James Fitzgerald:
Again I feel the need to reply as I think you slightly miss the point. It’s also a slow day at work. I believe most sensible Arsenal fans believes there is only one camp, who believe that this IS a transitional season, we DO need Henry fit and playing well. But they also see that we need to supplement our squad with some proven quality to help the younger lads – some cutting edge if you will. Too many are over-reacting.
I agree to an extent about the breaking up of partnerships. Yet Toure was excellent at RB, and offered a lot more going forward than Djourou or Gallas would have done, giving us pace and width on the RHS. I really don’t see that as a bad selection. Nor were we ever over-run in midfield. Gilberto’s goals have come from set-pieces and penalties in the main, so to suggest we missed him in midfield due to his scoring prowess is absurd. I believe I have seen on your site how Gilberto essentially plays as a third centre bavk, in front of the actual centre backs on more than one occasion. So you could say he wasn’t playing in a dissimilar position to normal. Further, the reason we conceded the goal was due to poor marking and nothing to do with partnerships. My biggest gripe with the goal is why we let Diaby, a sub still trying to get in the game, mark their main attacking threat from set-pieces. Surely Gilberto or Toure should have been doing this job?
As for Wenger and his pre-match comments about Henry, it is clear that this was done for psychological benefit – to lift us and scare PSV. I’m baffled that you don’t see that. You may therefore argue it didn’t work, but I will bow to AW’s superior knowledge of the make-up of his players, and what they need to hear.
As for Diaby, I like him as a player – pace, power, direct running. But to blame our ills on the non-selection of one player as a reason for our loss is ridiculous. When he came on I don’t think he really got into the game but, again, you use this as a way of saying forwarding your ‘I told you so’ agenda which is the biggest flaw in ANR.
Regards
andy walker
having sold my soul to belzebub in exchange for alan smith beating Parma i am allowed glimpses into the future.this may interest you fro the 2050 edition of the Oxford English Dictionary..
HLEBOPHOBIC
the condition of a footballer with possession of the ball overcome by an extreme aversion to lifting back his foot and striking said ball towards an opponent’s goal.
(Derivation : from the name of a little-remembered forward of Arsenal f.c. playing at around the beginning of their infamous fifteen-year “period of transition” which culminated in the 16-2 defeat in the 2020 cup final when manager Wenger fielded his entire under-9 eleven.It was his last match in charge of Arsenal and never blessed with anything resembling normal vision he “did not see” 15 of the Manchester United goals.He insists to this day that his young Arsenal side won 2-1 and that the result was the culmination of a sustained attack by the footballing authorities on Arsenal f.c.)
Eric says:
I have never believed the media hype praising Arsenal’s “beautiful” football. But we’ve come to expect this kind of thing from the media (in any realm, really): not a lot of clear, independent observation. The pace of play of this Arsenal side is far too slow, and is thus never, or rarely, incisive. And as Myles has said, they no longer have the powerful runners and passers of the recent past. This is not the team of Bergkamp to Pires to Henry back to Bergkamp to Ljungberg to the back of the net. I am not optimistic about Wenger’s current set up. Please tell me I’m wrong.
EC writes:
1. Henry: We all know he did not have the best of season but to discard a man that has loyally served the club over the last 8 years and has consistently been the best player in the world for the last few years is madness. He has been hampered by injury this year and don’t forget he has had a 2 years non stop football. Hopefully he can rest over the summer and come back refreshed for the new year.
Even if Henry has lost a yard of pace, he is still quicker than 90% of premiership players. Also he has such a special talent that I think he can adapt and play around that.
In today’s transfer market 20m will not buy you 1 let alone 2 good strikers
2. Arsene Wenger: You say that the great man is delusional and that he thinks that his squad is a lot better than it is. I am sure that you subscribed to that same theory during the cup run that saw a side with an average age around 20 lead us to Cardiff. The fact is that Arsene never expected to have to rely on players like Denilson Walcott, Djourou, to deliver on a consistent basis. Denilson has come in and done very well but you cannot expect an 18 year old guy to perform exceptionally well consistently.
Injuries have played a big factor in our season this year, I am not making excuses now but we have lost our most influencial players at the wrong moments.
RVP was flying just before he got injured – he was our top goal scorer as well.
Henry has missed 22 games this year due to injury – we played around 45
Gallas who made such a difference at the beginning of the season got injured and only returned recently
Rosicky and Hleb: Have been in and out of the team with niggly little injuries
Eboue and recently Hoyte got injured restricting our attacking on the right hand side.
Clichy had a spell on the sidelines.
Also Senderos, Djourou, had spells out at the same time as Gallas.
All in all I think the squad served as extremely well this year, the experience gained will only improve the teams character for the years to come
Also we have seen a glimpse of how life will be without Henry and I must say it’s a lot better than I thought!
denman writes again:
When are Arsenal fans going to realise that this guy ( a transfer window purchase) just isn’t good enough to play for the club?
This guy has embarked on a PR campaign to win the dumb fans over.
He has buddied up with TH for the silly touchline dances. He comes on the field after the Reading game and steals applause from those that played. He has a part in the Alex own goal and runs over to the bench!
Brendan Melck writes:
Totally agree with Myles and Ian’s comments on the game. I just wondered what you thought of the report I read in the Independent that Arsene had decided to go for ‘Plan B’ against PSV at the Emirates, wanting to get the ball in the air and send in crosses, into the mixer.
It looked like he tried to do that, but Arsenal aren’t used to playing like that, so it didn’t work. It very nearly did work, once or twice, but it needs consistent application to really work. Looking at a team like Reading, they are expert at crosses and know a lot of tricks to get goals from them. Arsenal look awkward when playing like that, and it never seemed to hold together. I think there needs to be some new ideas, new strategies, or the team will continue to struggle against defensively set-up teams. Which is inexcusable when you look at the obvious talent and promise of the players who are in that squad.
johan :
ANR, I agree with you in many ways. Even though I’m swede, Ljungberg is really past it.
Another thing that caught my eye: our central midfielders were repeatedly playing stupid longballs, balls that our two strikers where to alone to do anything constructive about. Arsenal made it too single-tracked and gave the PSV defence a relative easy game.
Where’s the dynamic?
Sorry for my bad english, hope you get my point.
Cheers/Johan (Malmö, Sweden)
John B
Just wanted to pass on my views on a few things that I’ve been stewing over all season but were confirmed last night.
1. We badly need an attacker who can, and wants to, head the ball. Admittedly Henry has got a couple of crucial goals with his head this season – a couple more than ever before! – but generally it is a wasted avenue. Now we have a wider pitch than Highbury we get some good crosses in but, then… nothing. Just look at Larsson’s winner last night. Perhaps Bendtner will be that man? It could give Wenger that long sought for Plan B.
2. We currently have two left footed players in a squad of 25. Having some others, especially a winger, might at least create some new angles and alter the ‘Attack of the Clones’ style we have at the moment.
3. We need someone who can shoot from outside the area (and not a free kick) or we have to let players do it more often. I get frustrated with supporters who shout ‘shoot!’ as we dribble around the area but I’m now seeing our unwillingness to have a go from distance as another example (like crosses and headers) of us effectively giving up one way of scoring a goal. There was a stat in last night’s programme saying roughly a quarter of shots on target in the Champions League are goals. We had five last night and would have needed three more to reach the ratio – having some decent 25-yarders would help.
I think it is worth pointing out too that of our 22 home games this year nine have been draws in 90 minutes. Okay, we’ve won 13 but, for illustration Spurs (I won’t bother with comparing it to the other members of the big four) have played 20 at home in all competitions winning 13, losing four and drawing three in 90 minutes in all competitions; it isn’t any physical weakness in away games that hurts us most but a lack of goals and wins at home.
Keep up the good work,
John
Drew:
As I’ve said before we need three signings this summer. A right back (perhaps so Kolo can be CH or midfield), a new world class keeper and a powerhouse centre forward who will score 20plus goals a season. The latter will cost big money and we should finance it by selling TH14. He has doen wonders for Arsenal and Arsene but I don’t think he will ever be the palyer he was (and I don’t think he thinks so either). 3 purchases, with Bendtner back, Diaby improving, Rosocky and Hleb purring and Gallas at the back we will have a solid spine with a sprinkling of classy young players that will bring back the trophies we deserve.
ken says:
What I love about being an Arsenal fan and about Arsene Wenger is that, despite the disappointment of days like yesterday, the defeats in Cardiff and at Blackburn, Arsene maintains his principles. He loves total football, and wants his team to play it. I love it, and I love watching it, and I’m glad that he won’t abandon it in search of a few baubles.
I say that, of course, confident in the certainty that Arsenal will win those same baubles in the next few years. It’s like saying that money doesn’t matter when you’re loaded, I suppose. Well, we are loaded.
Last night was my first visit to the Emirates, and I was so impressed. I’ve been to Twickenham (previously thought htis was the best), Croke Park (2nd best), Old Trafford, Murrayfield, Celtic Park, Ibrox, and everywhere in between, except St James’ Park, in Britain and Ireland, at last. The Emirates is the best. Easily.
Jon Doran:
I don’t know how to put this without seeming rude, so I’ll just say what I think. Your personal vendetta against Thierry Henry is getting tiresome and you’re endless criticism of the current Arsenal team is woefully lacking in any sort of perspective.
Time and time again you launch into Arsenal without putting your criticism in context. The bottom line is that the current Arsenal side is a young team built on a limited budget and stricken with injury problems. Yes, sometimes they disappoint, but that’s the nature of the beast. Try cutting them some slack for once.
As for Henry, yes, the guy can be petulant and self absorbed, but he’s also capable of producing moments of pure genius. He’s also been playing half fit for months and had no significant summer break. Rondaldino is the same.
I think you’re right about Freddie, but if you throw enough pebbles at a tin can then one will hit home eventually.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy reading your thoughts, even your numerous transfer prediction balls-ups, but I wonder why you write about Arsenal. You’re seemingly not an Arsenal fan, indeed you seem more enthused by Man U at the moment. I’m starting to see you as the virtual equivalent of the moaning git in the row behind at a game who spends the entire match abusing the efforts of his own side.
Cheers
Jon
matthew wade:
Agree whole heartedly with Ian Grant’s assessment, and regardign the the choice of camps, it is clearly both. We have been incredibly unfortunate with injuries this season (even more than last year incredibly), which has negated any development of rythm and partnerships (particularly in defence and up front). But losing 5 experienced players who have all been World Class at their peak and replacing them with teenagers, was always going to go this way in the short term.
The spine is an important issue. Post World Cup Jens is not as sharp having finally seen off his great rival, and his days are numbered. The press rumours of Akinfeev, Etoo & Woodgate would add up to £30m at least, but I think we’d all say that it would make a successful summer.
The BIG question is of course regarding reyes…will the Madrid experience have taught him enough about greener looking grass to focus on his career rather than his boredom? He could still be a vital player for us, especially with his width. If he leaves, we need someone (anyone!) who can play wide…any thoughts or suggestions?
d c says:
We need a Midfield General, a bruiser, a Sissoko or Vieira type, who will get in, make a few heavy tackles, and set the tone of the game.
I’m not too sure Diaby will provide that, he seems more of a lanky ballerina than a bruiser to me.
We need proper wingers again, with the loss of Pires and before Overmars, we haven’t got a proper replacement.
A left sided player that can run to the byline, or cut in and shoot, and who has the knack of turning up in scoring positions in the box.
Robben is the prime example these days.
Bergkamp. Bring him out of retirement. Or find a suitable replacement!
A player that holds the ball and threads sly passes through defenses to the onrushing wingers of old.
IDEA: Try playing Cesc upfront in that role for an experiment, see what he can do closer to the goal.
Campbell – Our defensive leader. Kolo’s got great heart and ability, but is far from a leader and sometimes switches off for a second or 2. Sol always kept his head in the game, we need that back.
Senderos to be sold or exchanged for Cygan even!! The man’s a train wreck, you can’t shine shit simple as.
Dave C :
B) The current setup won’t do. I think last night showed just hoe lucky we were last season in getting to the Champ League final.
This year our team is far worse aswell, after losing Bergkamp, Pires and Sol.
I’d rather have Pires these days than Ljungberg. All Freddie did last night was win one important foul.
At least the Frenchman knows how to follow up a shot on goal.
At this stage I even believe LIVERPOOL!! have a better squad and greater depth. They may not have a world class striker, but then neither do Arsenal anymore.
Wenger’s decision to take off Baptista for Thierry was terrible. Arsenal had just scored, and were starting to click when he interrupted that flow by making us play with 10 men, silly decision…… but I wonder if “master” HENRY aked to be put on, and the “puppet” Wenger obeyed?
Bottom Line:
You don’t win anything with kids, no matter how hungry they are.
Contrary to what the media will have you believe, Manchester United won the Champions League with a very experienced team, most of their players were hitting their prime, save a few of the academy “youngsters” like Becks(23 at the time!)
pon writes:
I think I’s fall into the second camp there! not sure about the centreback thing wasn’t that the point of buying gallas this summer? but definately a top keepr and striker. do you actually believe there’s anything in robinho/eto’o rumours? i’m always scepical about big name rumours but wenger needs to bite the bullett and buy ome top names! (or rosicky-esque reputation players) maybe a proper winger who can score for the left?